Men's Basketball Returns To Pitt Center To Host Mount St. Mary's Thursday
1/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes | NEC Front Row | Live Stats
Mount St. Mary's (7-12, 5-1 NEC) at Sacred Heart (8-11, 3-3 NEC)
Thursday, Jan. 19 - 7 PM
Coach Bike Court at the Pitt Center - Fairfield, Conn.
Setting the Scene... After going 3-1 on its four-game road swing, the Pioneers open a three-game homestand Thursday night against Mount St. Mary's.
Last Time Out... It took 55 minutes, but Sacred Heart outlasted Bryant 112-110 in triple overtime Saturday at Chace Athletic Center. Joseph Lopez scored the game-winning layup with 2.8 seconds remaining in the third overtime. Quincy McKnight scored a career-high 44 points, adding nine rebounds and six assists. Lopez had a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Three other Pioneers - Matej Buovac (18), Sean Hoehn (16), Chris Robinson (10) - scored in double figures.
All-Time vs. Mount St. Mary's... The Mountaineers lead the all-time series against the Pioneers 22-10. The two teams split last season's games, with the home team winning each meeting. SHU has won three of its last five games against Mount St. Mary's.
Last Meeting... Mount St. Mary's snapped a SHU three-game winning streak on Feb. 11, 2016 with a 66-61 win over the Pioneers at Knott Arena. The Mountaineers overcame a 33-29 halftime deficit to rally for the win. Junior Robinson led Mount St. Mary's with 26 points in the game with Chris Wray adding 17 points and nine rebounds. Cane Broome led the Pioneers with 20 points.
McKnight's Major Weekend... Sophomore guard Quincy McKnight averaged 35 points per game last weekend in SHU's wins at St. Francis Brooklyn and Bryant. He opened the week with 26 points in the win over the Terriers. On Saturday, he scored a career-high 44 points with nine rebounds and six assists. Thirty-five of his points came in the final 35 minutes of the game. McKnight earned four weekly awards for his big weekend:
- NEC Player of the Week for the third time
- CollegeInsider.com Lou Henson National Player of the Week
- Met Basketball Writers D-I Player of the Week
- USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week
Lopez In The Low Post... Joseph Lopez had back-to-back double-doubles in SHU's two wins last week. He opened with 21 points and a season-high 16 rebounds at St. Francis Brooklyn. On Saturday, Lopez had 19 points, 10 rebounds, and scored the game-winning basket in the third overtime. Since the start of conference play, Lopez is averaging 14.8 points, 10 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 58.5% from the field.
Tucker Distributing... Junior guard Charles Tucker Jr. is averaging 6.7 assists per game in NEC play with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.9. Last weekend, Tucker had 14 assists to just two turnovers in SHU's wins at St. Francis Brooklyn and Bryant. Tucker is second in the NEC in assists, averaging 4.68 per game.
Points In Reserve... The Sacred Heart bench has given the Pioneers a lift in the last four games, averaging 26.3 points per game. During that stretch, the SHU reserves have outscored the opposition by 12.5 points per game. On Saturday, Sean Hoehn and Matej Buovac combined for 34 of the Pioneers' 35 bench points.
Scouting the Mountaineers... Picked to finish fourth in the NEC Preseason Poll with LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary's is tied for first in the league at 5-1 after a 78-72 win over Saint Francis U on Saturday. Five Mountaineers scored in double-figures, led by Elijah Long's 17 points and eight rebounds. Long leads The Mount in scoring at 14.4 points per game and in assists with 4.2 per game.
